1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly and method for turning articles and, more particularly, to an assembly and method used to turn articles, such as cartons.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are several machines on the market which allow cartons or cases to be turned multiple times to allow for display pack or "labels out" automatic palletizing. Such palletizer infeed machines which are capable of accomplishing multiple turning of cases include Columbia Machine, Inc.'s Colmac 200T and 500T Case Palletizer which utilize a pop-up turntable for labels-out stacking of cases. The Colmac turntable lifts a case up from the conveyor and can rotate it 360 degrees in both directions. Another example of a machine for labels-out stacking is a triple turn infeed which uses "bump turns" in conjunction with case pushover mechanisms. Other types of machines use rotating star wheels or overhead rotatable clamps.
The primary problem with all of these machines is that they have limited speed capability. When manipulating case sizes of 12" by 18" by 8" filled with standard basis weight paper, for instance, none of the machines are able to achieve acceptable multiple turns at speeds in excess of 25-30 cases per minute. These machines are also expensive to build. Further, they have a number of moving parts which increases maintenance costs.